Attending ex-girlfriend's wedding, arresting the groom's officer on the spot

"Why was the deceased barefoot? Were the shoes taken by the suspect, or were they never wearing any to begin with?" Xiao Lin asked, looking at the deceased's bare feet. Zhang Kai examined the deceased's ankles: "There are no signs of binding at the ankles, and the skin shows no abrasion, indicating that the deceased may have voluntarily taken off their shoes before death, or the shoes may have fallen off during the struggle and been taken by the suspect. However, there may be traces of the suspect on the shoes, making it more likely that they were taken—the suspect deliberately cleaned the deceased's pockets and turned them inside out, and then took the shoes, precisely to prevent us from identifying the deceased or obtaining clues about the suspect through the items."

As the autopsy neared its end, Zhang Kai summarized all the findings: "The deceased was male, aged 35-45, 178cm tall, and died between 10 PM on August 15th and 1 AM on August 16th. The cause of death was hemorrhagic shock caused by a single-edged sharp weapon piercing the heart; he had suffered blunt force trauma to the head, resulting in hematoma, abrasions and skin peeling on the neck, and hand abrasions and broken nails from a struggle; the black canvas fibers clutched in his right hand matched the fibers found at the neck injury site, and fragments of the suspect's skin tissue were found under his fingernails; the deceased's last meal was between 5 PM and 6 PM on August 15th, and he was barefoot; his personal belongings had been removed, suggesting that the suspect knew the deceased and deliberately concealed evidence after committing the crime."

"What directions can these conclusions provide for the investigation?" Xiao Lin asked, organizing the autopsy report. Zhang Kai thought for a moment: "First, the time of death is precise to the hour. Investigators can focus on the activity patterns of people around the grassland between 10 pm on August 15th and 1 am on the 16th, especially those with black motorcycles or farm tricycles. Second, the weapon used to inflict the injury was a single-edged sharp dagger or knife. The suspect may have carried such a weapon and has a certain tendency towards violence. Third, the skin tissue fragments under the victim's fingernails are key. As long as a complete DNA profile is extracted, the suspect can be directly identified. Finally, the suspect cleaned up the victim's belongings and took the shoes, indicating that he had a strong sense of counter-investigation and that there may have been economic disputes or emotional conflicts with the victim. It was not a random crime."

He added, "Furthermore, if the black fibers from the neck and the mud samples from the head can be compared with the clues at the grassland site, it will further confirm that the first crime scene was the grassland slope; and the food composition of the deceased's stomach contents may help us to investigate the deceased's activity range - for example, which nearby restaurant served similar food on the afternoon of August 15, thus identifying the deceased."

As the body was resealed and sent to the cold storage, Zhang Kai removed his gas mask, his forehead already covered in sweat. He looked at the autopsy report on the table; every conclusion had undergone rigorous observation and analysis, especially the determination of the time of death, which combined multiple dimensions such as rigor mortis, livor mortis, body temperature, and stomach contents to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the results.

"Send these clues to Captain Lu immediately, emphasizing the time of death, the type of fatal injury, and the suspect's DNA, so that they can adjust the direction of their investigation," Zhang Kai told Xiao Lin. "In addition, prioritize testing for skin tissue fragments under the fingernails and black fibers on the neck, and try to obtain information about the suspect and clues about the weapon used to injure the victim as soon as possible."

Xiao Lin quickly left the autopsy room with the report in hand, while Zhang Kai remained inside, examining the slices of the heart stab wound under the microscope once more—the morphological characteristics of the wound tract could help the forensic team reconstruct the shape of the weapon used, which was crucial for subsequent investigations into the suspect's weapon. He knew that every minute autopsy discovery could be the key to unlocking the truth of the case, leaving the murderer hiding deep within the meadow nowhere to hide.

At this moment, in the conference room of the Criminal Investigation Detachment, Lu Chuan was holding the autopsy report sent by Zhang Kai, discussing the next steps with Yang Lin, Wang Shuai, and others. "The time of death is precise to between 10 pm on August 15th and 1 am on the 16th, and the fatal injury was a stab wound to the heart," Lu Chuan pointed to the key information on the report. "Yang Lin, you lead the team to follow up on the DNA testing, and report back immediately as soon as you have the results; Wang Shuai, around this time period, check black motorcycles and farm tricycles around the grassland, focusing on people with single-edged sharp weapons and recent fighting injuries; Zhang Hui, you are responsible for checking the surrounding restaurants and finding the deceased's possible activity trajectory based on clues from the stomach contents."

As night deepened, the lights of the Criminal Investigation Division remained bright, and an investigative operation centered on the autopsy findings had been fully launched. Zhang Kai was still in the autopsy room organizing data. He knew that this autopsy report not only reconstructed the victim's death process but also pointed the way for the investigation—as long as these clues were followed, the murderer would eventually be found, allowing the unidentified body to rest in peace and ensuring that justice would prevail.

At 5 p.m., in the video analysis room of the Criminal Investigation Detachment, 12 surveillance screens lit up simultaneously, with the surrounding roads, villages, and pastoral paths flashing across the screen. Wang Shuai rubbed his swollen eyes, with Zhang Kai's autopsy report spread out in front of him—the time of death was determined to be between 10 p.m. on August 15 and 1 a.m. on August 16, and the suspect was likely driving a black motorcycle or a farm tricycle, which became the core focus of his investigation of the surveillance footage.

"Let's start by checking the surveillance footage on the provincial highway north of the grassland, focusing on the footage from 9 p.m. on August 15 to 2 a.m. on August 16," Wang Shuai said to his team members Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang. "The person who reported the case, Li Jianshe, said he saw a black motorcycle. Let's look for vehicles with this feature first, and then check agricultural tricycles."

Xiao Li was in charge of operating the monitoring system. The camera quickly switched to a checkpoint on the provincial highway. At 9:15 PM, a black motorcycle entered the frame. The driver was wearing a black helmet and mask, and a long black bag was strapped to the back seat, perfectly matching Li Jianshe's description of a "black motorcycle and long bag." "Captain Wang, look at this one!" Xiao Li paused the camera. "It's a Honda CB400, black, with a red helmet hanging on the handlebars, just like Li Jianshe described—a red helmet on the handlebars!"

Wang Shuai leaned closer to the screen, zooming in on the vehicle's details: "The driver is about 175-180cm tall, of medium build, which is close to the height range we estimated for the suspect. The black bag in the back seat looks heavy; could it contain tools used in the crime?" He asked Xiao Li to record the vehicle information, "Continue tracking it and see which direction it goes."

The motorcycle traveled east along the provincial highway and appeared on the surveillance footage at the entrance to the pastoral area at 9:40 PM—only 3 kilometers from the grassland, a necessary route to the pasture. The driver didn't stop, driving directly onto a small pastoral road and disappearing into a blind spot of the surveillance cameras. "The small pastoral road isn't covered by surveillance cameras; we can only check private surveillance footage from nearby villages," Xiao Zhang said helplessly. "We contacted three nearby villages, and only a few households in Xiangyang Village to the west have installed surveillance cameras." (End of Chapter)